There are some funny people out there

Thanks to Jenae, I now have this website to explore in full while I should be writing my essay:

Look at me!

That website is a tribute to all those kids/teenagers/college students/grown-ups/senior citizens who are bored and have nothing better to do than mess around on photoshop. Take for instance, this:
















Normal picture of some ordinary tomatoes. That is, RIPE tomatoes, which are anything but ordinary in Chicago. Somebody, most likely a guy who had smoked up while watching some Emeril, and then decided that one scene in that one martial arts movie was really cool because, man, it's AWESOME to chop off someone's head, is that a squirrel I see? made this:




















I love how they even have the "Food Network" logo in the corner.

This is my other favorite one:





















Especially with the latter photo...did you even really NEED photoshop to make that? Take a look at the perspective on that "Camels" logo! Completely flat on a cylindrical can! Excellent! And the poor tough cowboy in the background is stretched out to rival the width of Texas.

Granted, there are some decent mutilated pictures on the website.

What makes me wonder is that they have a competition for photoshop pictures. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, since the internet brings together basically everyone with a computer and everyone can find a home for all their pasttimes. Last night in Tina's room I watched some of a TV show about eating competitions where these big beefy guys and tiny little men with 18 packs (pacs?) rippling on their structured stomachs boasted about how yeah, they could fit 22 pounds of hot dogs in their tight tummies. Why do people suddenly find it desirable to turn EVERYTHING into a competition? Can't it just stay a hobby off of TV? If you really enjoy eating 18 pounds of coleslaw or cornbread, fine, but I don't know if it's really such a great hobby anymore if it's taking up an hour slot on some TV show's channel. This might be because the TV show has run out of reality show TV ideas, but that's their problem, and not supposed to be the benefit of some doctor's bill when a patient shows up with an exploded stomach or deteriorating stomach lining. But, I guess if someone does eating competitions for a living...ok? At least he's employed and keeping the wife happy in the kitchen.

Maybe it's because I'm not a very competitive person, but my biggest desire generally is to somehow reach the goal I set out for myself. I remember when I used to care about what Adam Rich or Mindy Kosaka got on their spelling tests in elementary school, and probably even minding about class rank when I was in high school.

Sidenote, this was a topic of conversation in sosc the other day, which is turning out to be 80 times better than last year.

Basically, the only steady competition I have nowadays is sprinting with outstretched hands filled with posters advertising the next concert and a stapler to the prime spot on the bulletin boards while hoards of other club members frantically shove push-pins into each others' hands as they too try to stick up their flyers.

At least, that's what I like to think happens.

The long and short of it that I guess at the moment I'm struggling to do well enough to make me happy, and once I'm confident enough about any sort of skill I have, I'll worry about if I'm better than the handsome gentleman sitting across from me in class. Music competitions? Sports? Spelling bees? Book prizes? Fine. But...eating competitions?

However, if I were to submit a picture to this photoshop website, THIS is what it would be:
















That is some raw photoshop talent RIGHT THERE.

**ESSAY EDIT**
3:36 AM
Bottom of 4th page
Pain factor: Extremely high
Games of freecell played: 9
Games won: 9